Advances in telecommunications and computer networks have made it easier for persons to work from virtual offices. As working from virtual offices has become more common, communications between co-workers within a traditional office setting has suffered. For instance, whereas co-workers could often reasonably expect other co-workers to be present within their office during normal working hours, this is no longer the case.
When an employee of an enterprise is working from a virtual office (e.g. from home), that person is necessarily absent from their regular office. Because of this, the person is unavailable for immediate conversation with others in the office. This situation can result in inconvenience and wasted time for others in the work place. For example, when a co-worker goes to the office in the work place of someone working from a virtual office, they will find the office empty. As a result, the interaction that would have occurred must be delayed until the person being sought is actually in their office. Alternatively, the co-worker must contact the person being sought through a communication channel, such as via telephone or email. Establishing contact through a communication channel can be inconvenient, because it often requires the co-worker to look-up the virtual office contact information for the person being sought, and manually enter that information in a communication device.
In order to facilitate contact through a communication channel, a person working from their virtual office may leave contact information at their office in the workplace. However, such contact information may not be immediately apparent to someone seeking to converse with the person working out of a virtual office. In addition, the person dropping by the office usually must remember the contact information or write it down and then return to their own office in order to establish communication with the person at the virtual office. Another difficulty with a system that relies on leaving contact information at the office in the workplace is that the person working from a virtual office can forget to leave contact information. In addition, a person working from a virtual office may not have known that they would be working from that office beforehand and therefore may have had no opportunity to leave contact information. In addition, even where contact information is available, a person working from a virtual office has been unable to provide certificates authorizing actions to others in the work place.